The lights were dim when she walked in, but a faint glow came from the many control panels. People were rushing about, shouting orders and scurrying to follow them. Katja, being in no particular hurry, walked up to Howard, the ship's captain. He was an old gangly guy, but still possessed the hidden strength of an elderly man who had worked all his life. He was defiantly a sight, clad in a pink Hawaiian shirt, Khakis, and his sunglasses.
Katja had walked up behind him without his knowing and stood a good foot away before she spoke.
"What's going on?" she asked as she came to a stop behind him.
Startled by her sudden appearance, Howard jumped.
"Jeez Katja, you scared me." He paused a second regaining his senses.
"We've been fighting since early this morning." He paused again and scanned his eyes over her body.
Katja ignored him and gathered as much information from the screens as she could.
"What on earth are you wearing?" asked Howard exasperated.
Katja didn't move, but just leaned over a control panel in front of her and started to type in coordinates.
"It's a uniform," she replied blankly. Then turned her head to face him, her hands still typing frantically like they had a mind of their own.
"Is there a problem?" she finished with a cocky attitude. She was dressed in her black Oz uniform and just being in that uniform seemed to make the people around her stay away like she was a stick of dynamite with the fuse lit, that is how Oz affected people. The mere sight of a uniform and they would get scared, that was the point.
To strike fear in the ones you command, then you have total control over them and order can be established, or a dictatorship. Katja smiled at the thought that these two sentences summed up Oz's entire idea of a proper world order.
Ok, enough with the Nazi history. She shook her head at the jest, but kept to herself.
"No, No! I just don't understand why you would want to put that thing on again," he replied quickly. Even Howard was afraid of her. He knew both her and Duo when they were being trained together, and he always had been afraid of her. It was something about her that made his blood run cold. Maybe he could handle Duo going off and killing people, but the thought of a young girl conducting interrogations more savagely then what was described in history books about the Nazis and the Gestapo. And he of Jewish background made it even more unbearable. A flood of relief would always come when he would realize that she was on their side, but also pity for those she would capture.
Katja turned back to the screen.
"First, I got to do laundry and second I have a separate agenda then the pilots," she replied, not moving her eyes from the screen.
A little nervous that she might do something to them or the Peace Million, Howard stepped back a little.
Katja didn't need to see him to know that he was nervous, she could tell by the way he was acting. She stood and turned to face him. The screens shining from behind her made her body look like a black paper silhouette, her back strait, shoulders square.
Everything neat and tidy. His hands started to shake a little. No matter how old he'd get he would always be afraid of this fifteen-year-old girl.
"Don't panic. It doesn't include harming you or the Peace Million," she said with a smile.
Howard relaxed a little once she turned back to the controls.
"Howard! We've got a problem!" shouted one of the operators from is bank of screens and controls.
"What is it?" asked Howard immediately anxious.
"The Libra is advancing with more mobile dolls," the man shouted.
"How long have they been fighting?" called Katja.
The operator looked at her, his brow beaded with sweat, obviously he had been strung out on coffee for a long time and his nerves weren't helping him.
"The Gundams have already been out there for two hours. I don't think they can take much more of this," he responded.
Before Howard could get an order off Katja took the operator's spot, looked over the screen to see the best solution and started sending orders to the pilots.
They need to fight together. Heero. use the Zero system and lead them! thought Katja as she typed in the orders for the Gundams.
Duo, go to the north quadrant with Scythe… Trowa, keep to the left quad with Gunfire… Quatre, stay to the right quad… Wufei, down the middle and south… No holds barred.
With the snap or the return key the orders were sent and Katja flew out of the chair and ran to her Gundam.
I was hoping I wouldn't have to do this! she thought as she ran.
The cockpit came to life instantly. Katja strapped in and took off for the battle ship Libra. She had little opposition on her flight into the hell that consumed the Gundam pilots, and of that opposition it was only a few mobile dolls that were easily torn apart. Amazingly enough, when she reached a docking bay on the Libra, she faced no opposition. No man or woman working on the Libra was anywhere to be found. Before she left the cockpit she called up the picture of her parents.
"Hey Mom and Dad. Well, here it goes. If I fail I'll see you soon. I love you." She told the screen from the gate opening. She pressed a hand to her lips and blew a kiss to the picture. Katja checked her side arm and the machine gun she had pulled out of her lock box. She slung the shoulder strap across her chest so the gun rested near her hip. She then hit the button that opens the gate and jumped out. Leaving the gate wide open and the picture still beaming on the screen.
The halls of the Libra were nearly empty. Even so, Katja quietly moved from shadow to shadow until she found Milliardo in an empty room staring out a window into space. Katja stepped in very quietly, with handgun drawn, stalking him like a panther. He didn't seem to notice that she had entered the room. She came up from behind him and jabbed the barrel of the gun into his back at the same time placing her left hand on his shoulder to stop him from turning. Milliardo stiffened with surprise.
Katja brought her body closer to his and whispered in the direction of his ear.
"Boo," she said very faintly.
He was much taller then her and could have harmed her, but he didn't move for fear that she would fire.
"So Katja, I see that you've found me, and that's good," he said in response. He didn't turn his head; just spoke as if she was right in front of him. "I was expecting you. You took a little bit longer then I thought you would, but you still came," Milliardo paused. For Katja, the atmosphere in the room went from confidence to a strange fear of what he had hiding in the shadows of this dark room. She hadn't thought of a possible trap, but he couldn't have known that she would be coming.
All of a sudden the lights in the room come on with blinding force. Katja tried to squint but the light was too bright and she was forced to close them. She kept the pistol barrel in his back but removed her hand from his shoulder to cover her eyes. They burned and she didn't know why.
All of a sudden someone kicked her right hand and the pistol went flying across the room. Katja tried to squint, but only saw Milliardo standing before her with a knowing smirk on his face. That faint picture was then blocked by the hands of his soldiers, grabbing at her arms and legs trying to capture her. Katja fought blindly with all her might. She couldn't see her enemy but she knew they were there. She swung her arms around when some one grabbed a hold and kicked them off of her legs. But it was no match, like a pack of rabid dogs they surrounded her and then pounced, dragging her down into a pile of bodies. Each one clinging to a part of her anatomy. They finally got her motionless and pulled her to a standing position, before Milliardo.
"You thought I wouldn't have a plan, didn't you Katja." He paused for a moment, waiting for a response that he knew she wouldn't give. Katja was a hard one to break, but she would break, that he was sure of.
"I see that you wore your uniform. You want to play Oz soldier, Katja?" he paused again, then started to pace as he began to speak.
"If that's so, then I'll play by Oz's rules. And according to Oz's rules, any soldiers caught trying to assassinate their commanding officer is put to death." Milliardo kept on pacing and then stopped before her and spoke almost kindly.
"But I won't do that, Katja, you're too valuable." He paused again and walked past her to the exit.
"But mark my words, you will receive your punishment for this, and for other incidents from the past!" shouted Milliardo from the exit. Then with a nod of his head one of the soldiers took their side arm and struck Katja in the back of the head, rendering her unconscious.
When Katja woke up she found herself with her arms spread and tied to loops in the wall holding her slightly off the ground. Only a long-sleeved white t-shirt and her bra underneath covered her upper body, her black uniform jacket removed and placed neatly on a chair nearby.
Katja's rib cage ached from being clubbed with a baton and all of her limbs seemed to ache with bruises. Her face already shone with bruises from being beaten by the soldiers who caught and bound her. She still had the metallic flavor of blood in her mouth from a split lip. They had done a bang up job, literally. Katja exhaled shortly in what was supposed to be a chuckle when the door to the left of her opened and Milliardo strode in, with a whip in hand.
He passed in front of her and began to lecture. "You know that according with Oz's rules you are to be shot. Since you wanted to play Oz soldier I should give you the mercy of a quick death," He took the hilt of the whip and held up her chin with it, his face inches away from hers. "But we are not under Oz's jurisdiction now, are we?" he asked her with a smile, removing the hilt from underneath her chin, letting her head drop slightly.
Katja was weary from the fight with the soldiers but still had enough strength to accept the punishment. She let her head fall that small amount and mentally prepared herself for the thing that will probably kill her…and it wasn't her stubborn reckless abandon.
Milliardo waited for a moment, allowing her that time to ready herself. While he stood there looking on, it pained him to see her so willing to take this savage punishment. They had been friends once, at least in military terms. He wavered for a second, trying to figure a way out of this mess. But no, there was no other way. Just as there was no other way to end this war other then to destroy the earth. With that thought set in his mind, Milliardo removed his coat and readied to begin.
With a lout snap the leather thong struck her back, cutting through the thin t-shirt. Instantly Katja jumped, but made no cry. The braided leather snake continued to strike her back, tearing the shirt and her flesh, in a chaotic crisscross pattern. But still no cry penetrated her dry lips.
The frustration within him grew as he continued the punishment. Milliardo's brow streamed with sweat when finally with one last crack of the whip he grasped the end and swung it over her head like a jump rope, bringing it across her neck and pulled her head back. Even through the haze that clouded her mind she could feel his hot breath on her neck and hear his words spoken between gasps of breath.
"If I can't break you now, I will eventually kill you…I've got time, Katja…I can wait," he whispered in her ear, then stepped back to address the soldiers standing guard, letting the whip fall to the floor.
"Throw her in the cell with the others!" he shouted, as he walked away picking up his coat from a chair on his way out.
The door slid shut behind him. Both of the sentries looked at Katja in awe. Never in their wildest dreams would they think a fifteen-year-old girl could withstand that type of punishment. When they reached her, the biggest of the sentries supported her underneath her arms in case she fell while the other untied the straps holding her up. The idea of the bigger man supporting her was a joke because she had cleared her mind enough that she could pretty much stand on her own. Contrary to what they thought she had very good control of her faculties. When both of her arms were untied, both took an arm and one grabbed her uniform jacket and escorted her to the cell Milliardo mentioned.
When they reached the door, the smaller man opened it. Katja stood in the center of the doorway and paused. The cell was dark except for the light from the doorway. She was trying to focus her eyes so she wouldn't fall walking in. But the sentries weren't going to wait any longer. They simultaneously shoved her through the doorway. Not ready for the sudden movement, Katja stumbled into the room and fell on her knees. The larger man threw her jacket on the floor beside her and they closed the door, leaving her in the dark with whatever the room originally contained.
